The New York Knicks removed Joakim Noah from their roster via the waive-and-stretch provision. They failed to reach a buyout agreement since no teams were interested in the veteran center, so New York was forced to take a $6.4 million cap hit in each of 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22.
No trade seemed imminent, either, as the front office looked for this before the official waive of Noah’s contract.
For the reason why, general manager Scott Perry said they explored trade options, but the market was expensive. He reiterated president Steve Mills’ words on an unwillingness to move first round picks, according to ESPN’s Ian Begley:
On the decision to waive Joakim Noah & stretch the final year ($19.